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CAD Cutting - current state of play


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I'm minded to get into CAD based cutting of plasticard. After a fair bit of forum browsing there seems little traffic on this recently and a lot on 3d printing. I don't find design for 3d printing especially congenial, and assembling things from CAD cut plasticard has more appeal. Is there a consensus on whether this is still a good way to proceed? And what is current good kit? Laser cutting doesn't seem compatible with materials I like to work with. 

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  • RMweb Gold

Hello Jim,

 

I have had a cutter for seven years and still use it, even though I also have a 3D printer.   I use the cutter for card and plastic sheet and, like you, I do find working with styrene sheet/plasticard quite satisfying.   I use Inkscape to draw the pieces, mainly as it is free software.

 

queens_hotel_05.jpg.82fca41a12bedc3ebef836036bcf33da.jpg

 

cheers,

Mike

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That's an impressive piece of work. My father was a carrier pilot in the post WW2 era so I have some interest in them. 

But anyway. The leading brands in the budget end of the market seem to be the Cricut and the Silhouette. Are there pros and cons of each one? They seem to be fundamentally the same tech, rather familiar to me from my days with pen plotters...

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Ah!  the pen plotter......  tac tac tac tac tac tac tac tac tac tac tac tac tac tac tac tac tac tac

 

My understanding is that all the cutters in the range can do the work of cutting plastic, but it would be the amount of passes (cuts) that would be needed to do the job; it's no different than cutting by hand with a modelling knife.  The main benefits are accuracy and less stress on your wrists and fingers.   If I have simple cuts, as with the section frames (the large V shaped pieces on my ship model) then I just make a couple of passes  on the cutter and then snap the resididue away by hand.   Complex stuff, involving bends and internal shapes etc., tend to need about five maybe six passes to cut through the plastic.   Plasticard does need a new, sharp blade for any extensive work so there is an overhead on that.

One caveat on budget brands, you invariably get what you pay for.

 

Mike

Edited by Royal42
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  • RMweb Premium

Hi Jimc.

 

There is a comprehensive thread on using the silhouette range of cutters on here.

 

I have learned a lot from it and now use the cutter extensively.

 

One tip, you can get the software from the silhouette site and try it out before you purchase a cutter.

Some folk use other software and import files into that, though I have never needed to. 

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On 25/11/2021 at 18:25, PaulaDoesTrains said:

I've successfully cut window frames from 20 thou plasticard on my 3018.

 

I'd love to hear more about this!

 

Using a blade type arrangement? Or a milling cutter?

 

CNC milling plasticard does seem like quite a good idea for cutting plastic (cut right through any thickness), but I don't think I've seen it done very much? Most tutorials etc on 3018 type machines seem to be for milling PCB designs.

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2 hours ago, justin1985 said:

 

I'd love to hear more about this!

 

Using a blade type arrangement? Or a milling cutter?

 

CNC milling plasticard does seem like quite a good idea for cutting plastic (cut right through any thickness), but I don't think I've seen it done very much? Most tutorials etc on 3018 type machines seem to be for milling PCB designs.

 

I used a 1mm end mill. It does leave a radius in any internal corners which to my eyes is barely noticeable. A needle file could be used to remove the radius and leave a sharp corner if so desired.

 

I have experimented with a vinyl cutter (about £10 on Ebay) on paper with some success but to cut anything of any substance would require a better mounting arrangement than my 3d-printed one which has a bit of side flex in it. Perhaps I'll revisit it at some point.

 

I think the plus point for these little 3018s is that you can use end mills, vinyl cutters, lasers or even attach a pen and use it for drawing. The minus point is that it's all a bit DIY. You have to spend a lot of time ensuring everything is square and the bed is level.

 

Hope this helps.

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Hmm, that's an interesting alternate option. I shall have to look into that. I do some musical instrument stuff that would benefit from a CNC router. But it does sound as if the 3018 based unit would be a little too DIY for my taste. 

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I've made (7mm) multi-layer sash windows for acrylic with my Stepcraft using a 0.8mm D bit,  and they came out fine. I have no problem cutting sheet, except I use double-sided tape to hold it down, which is expensive and I have to be careful lifting the completed parts off so as not to damage them.

It takes a little experimentation to first find the optimum cutting rate of feed etc., but once you've ascertained that, it's relatively straightforward. I usually cut nickel-silver rather than plastic, but the machine is happy with either   

 

Stepcraft enclosure

 

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  • 1 month later...
  • RMweb Premium

I have  silhouette cameo 4 cutter.

 

So far I have cut the sides for 9 DMU cars, a station building, window frames.

 

Interiors for carriage kits as easier than using Comet bits.

 

Still need to trial glazing.

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  • 3 weeks later...

The E3D "ASMBL" milling head concept could be used to cut / mill / engrave card or thin sheet, up to a few mm, materials on a 3D printer chassis. 

 

All the parts except the E3D toolchange plate are printed or pretty generic and readily available. The design concept could be adapted with additional or alternate printed to make a small milling head for just about any 3D printer.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4206827

 

Their original design is intended for use on a toolchanging machine, alternating between printing and precision finishing the printed layers - but in principle it's just a general purpose small milling / drilling head.

 

They use a standard ER8 collet chuck; I've got a set of collets including for 3mm or 1/8 dremel bits etc. on the one I made. I got all the parts from either ebay or aliexpress.

 

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On 25/11/2021 at 19:39, Royal42 said:

As well as my railway stuff, I also build model ships.  My largest project is an almost N Gauge (1:144 scale) scratchbuild of the aircraft carrier Ark Royal.  It has been made using plasticard and all the parts, including the masts, were cut entirely on the cutter.

 

Every single frame section is there.  Plasticard thickness varied between 10 and 30 thou (0.25 and 0.75mm).

frame_build_01.jpg.f32b8b0f5a5c3b210cc351a5cac2e653.jpg

 

frame_build_03.jpg.a7ef8e11542572c2c8241fbeb6b325e1.jpg

 

 

frame_build_43_frame_98_1.jpg.49e0b7531ddf3c64074ce65d6636adf5.jpg

 

 

frame_build_85_frames_completed.jpg.95c5ffa598d90e004ab674ba031c0cae.jpg

 

 

frame_build_83_island_and_funnel.jpg.5a208ba74169a711a771154ba46bd1da.jpg

 

 

frame_build_146_flight_deck_painted.jpg.e4f51a0aa3dcafb76be7c9ecb37fa591.jpg

 

Mike

Very impressive. What cutter and drawing software do you use?

drduncan

Edited by drduncan
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  • 2 weeks later...
  • RMweb Gold
On 29/01/2022 at 13:51, drduncan said:

Very impressive. What cutter and drawing software do you use?

drduncan

Hello drduncan,

 

Apologies for not responding sooner, I had been distracted by family issues.   I use Inkscape for drawing up the files for cutting. It is free and fairly easy to use.  The cutter I have is a Silver Bullet but I believe any of the other types, such as Cricut or silhouette should be capable of doing this work.

 

Cheers,

Mike

Edited by Royal42
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